After Apokolips

Chapter 2

May 6th, 2018 6:48 am

Raven was awoken by a bit of sunlight streaming through a nearby window of the common room. Coming awake instantly, she glanced at the clock above the door to see that the time was a quarter past six.

'Crap, I missed the sunrise,' she thought to herself as she sat upright on the couch. Her body ached a bit, and she had to rotate her head slightly to loosen up a knot in her neck. Couches are really uncomfortable to sleep on.

Standing up with a few loose stretches, the demoness went into the kitchen to make herself a cup of Earl Grey tea. She may have missed the sunrise, but she always liked the idea of starting the day with a trusty cup of tea. Once the tea had been brewed and poured into her favorite black mug, she took a few small sips as she created a portal leading to her floor of the tower. Emerging outside her room door, she was just about to enter before she heard the elevator open down the corridor. Damian emerged from it. Sweaty, shirtless, and with katana in hand.

Raven was taken aback upon seeing him in this state. Sure, she had seen him shirtless a dozen or so times during training but she could never quite get used to the image. His biceps bulged ever so slightly and the outline of a six-pack was quite evident on his toned stomach.

Raven took a large gulp of her tea as she saw him coming her way down the corridor, hoping he hadn't seen her staring. "Good morning." She said afterward in greeting.

"Morning," he replied, before asking with a tad bit of concern. "Did you sleep well?"

"Kind of. The couch wasn't exactly comfortable." Came the witch's response before she nodded towards her room. "I'm going to try and sort out the mess I've made. Hopefully, everything will be fixed before tonight."

"I can help if you want." Damian offered but Raven politely shook her head in decline.

"No, I'd hate to bother you."

"It's no trouble, let me just get changed and take a shower first." The ex-assassin said before he walked away and entered his room.

Raven smiled slightly, a bit surprised at his concern, before entering her bedroom as well. Her smile dropped at the same time as she observed the level of damage done to the living space. Practically everything was stashed on the floor with the exception being her bed, her vanity table, and the large bean bag she liked to read on. All the lightbulbs were shattered and all the glass from the windows were nothing but tiny fragments now.

Sighing, she finished the last of her Earl Grey Tea before setting the empty mug on the vanity table. 'Time to get to work I guess.'

Flying up, she began to unscrew the remains of the shattered lightbulbs from the ceiling, being careful not to cut her fingers on the sharp edges. Going back down, she located a small bin from her bathroom and used it to collect the bulbs before using her levitation powers to carefully pick up the small pieces of glass from the floor. Once done, she was about to start on the vanity table before a knock from the door alerted her. She shouted, "Come in", and Damian entered, now dressed in a red t-shirt and black khaki pants.

"What do you need help with?" He asked with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"If you could help with the bookshelf?" She gestured over to the mess of books tossed around in the corner. 

Damian nodded before going over to the wooden structure, using his strength to hoist it up. Raven watched him as he began to pick up her fallen books before she began her work on the vanity table. She heard Damian speak to her as she was collecting the broken shards off the table.

"So, I've been intending to return to the League of Assassins for a while." The boy's wonder began as he continued to stack books. "And I was wondering if you would like to accompany me?"